Gravity labeling-machine



A. LAFATA.

GRAVITY LABELING MACHINE.- APPLICATION FILED AUG-23, 1920.

1,394,744, Patented Oct. 25, 1921.

2 SHEET$-SHEET I. Z

a 2/ I] {/54 7 Q Patented Oct. 25, 1921.

ZSHEETSSHEET 2.

' 14122 07250 Zafaz a 5 Wm M 77% lnnullllll'llul'ul I A. LAFATA. GRAVITYLABELING MACHINE. APPLICAHON FILED AUG 23 1920 II m Q l M u L\\' m wUNETEED STATES FATENT @FFEQE.

ANTONIO LAFATA, OF HARBOR CITY, CALIFORNIA.

GRAVITY LABELING-MACHINE.

; It is an object of this invention to provide means whereby containerswill roll along ways due to gravity and in the course of their travelwill accumulate paste upon theirsurfaces on the field to be covered bythe label; and thereafter pick up the label in proper position on thefield. It is anotherobject of this invention to provide a devicerequiring no extraneous power to operate the same, is simple, durableand compact in structure. 1

These objects will be'more fully understood, as will also other objectsand corresponding accomplishments of my invention from the followingdetailed description of a preferred embodiment thereof. For the purposeof this description, reference is had to the accompanying drawings inwhich:

Figure It is-a side elevation of a labeling machine; Fig. 2 is anenlarged elevation of a fragment of the machine showing the pastingmechanism in detail; Fig. 3 is a section as seen on the line 33 ofFig.2; Fig. 4 is an enlarged section as seen on the line 44 of Fig. 1;Fig. '5 is a diagrammaticlongitudinal section through the machine; andFig. 6 is a plan view of a fragment of the machine as seen on the line'6- 6 of Fig. 5. i r

Referring more particularly to Figs. 1 and 5, a supporting frame havingways at the top for containers, such as cans, is indicated by A.Disposed along the ways and in the frame is a paste mechanism B forapplying paste to the cans as they roll along the ways and over themechanism. Mounted in the frame and beyond the paste mechanism in thepath of travel of the cans is a label holder C, which applies labels tothe pasted cans as they roll thereover. A second paste applyingmechanism is indicated'by D, and a cor- I responding label holder by E.The mechanism last referred to is for the purpose of applying anauxiliary label to the can.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 25, 1921.

7 Application filed August 23, 1920. Serial N0. 40 5,331.

The frame A may be of any convenient construction consisting of legsproperly braced supporting inclined ways. In this case the ways areformed of angle irons 7 spaced apart a distance equal to the height ofthe can allowing sufficient clearance so that a can placed in the waywill roll from the upper to the lower part.

' The pasting mechanism B comprises a trough 8 having two correspondinglobes. One lobe has a roller 9 mounted upon a shaft 10 jou-rnaled inbearings on the frame. Se-

cured to the end 'of the shaft is a sprocket wheel 11. The roller 9 hasa covering of sponge rubber which dips into a paste bath in the troughthereby carrying paste on its surface and delivering it to the can asthe latter rolls thereover. Disposed in the other lobe of" the trough 8is a roller 13 mounted upon ashaft 14, and similarly provided with asponge rubber covering 15. Fixed to the shaft 14 is a sprocket wheel 16,which is geared to sprocket wheel 11 by means of a chain 17. In order tokeep the sprocket chain tight, a tension bar 18 is provided, This bar issecured to one of the channels by means of a screw 19 disposed in a slotin the bar. The lower end of the bar has a foot 20 which engages thesprocket chain. By proper adjustment of the tension bar the chain may bekept tight. Mounted upon the shaft 14 and between the channels? is animpeller 21 having a number of arms which are adapted to be disposed inthe path of travel of the can. This impeller acts as a drive for theshaft 14:, and positively rotates the rollers. The linear distancebetween the rollers is equal to the linear distance along the surface ofthe can between the two lines at which paste is to be applied. With theconstruction shown, it is intended that a line of paste longitudinal ofthe can be applied thereto adjacent the spot in the field where the edgeof the label will come and likewise another line of paste adjacent theother edge of the label.

The label holder comprises a case 22 conforming in shape to the labeland open at the top. The bottom comprises a movable table 23 having astem 24; guided in a bar 25 extending across the frame. A collar 26 isfixed to the stem, and disposed between the collar and the bar 25 is acompression spring 27. The compression spring tends to force the table23 upwardly, and with it the stack of labels indicated by 28. Extendingtransverse of the case 22 and spaced from the bottom thereof is a bar29. Secured to the bar .29 and on either side of the stem are leafsprings 30, the ends of which normally engage the stem 24, and hold thelatter against upward movement. Secured to a bracketon the case 22 bymeans of a pivot is a lever 31. This lever straddles the stem 24 and isdisposed above the ends of the springs 30. By moving the leverdownwardly, the springs 30 will be moved away from the stem 24 releasingthe latter and allowing the compression spring 27 to move the stem andtable 23 upwardly. The free end of lever 31 is bent at right angles andhas a foot 32 disposed in the path of travel of the cans. A can movingover the foot will engage the latter and push the lever against theaction of tension spring This releases the stem 24 momentarily and thecompression spring 27 kicks the table 23 upwardly. This provides Thecase 22 is disposed at a distance away from the trough 8 such that a canwill roll over the rollers 13 and 9 receiving lines of paste whichregister with the edges of thelabel as the can reaches and rolls overthe labels '28. A label will then adhere to the can in its properposition.

It is customary to apply auxiliary labels such as'association labels tothe can. This may be conveniently accomplished by means of the pastingmechanism 1) and the label mechanism E. The label mechanism has a potfor paste indicated by 34, in which is a paste plunger The stem of theplunger slidably extends through the bottom of the pot andhas a collar36 which is abutted by a compression spring 37 interposed be tween itand a guide bar 38. Extending from the collar laterally and thenupwardly is a bar 39 having a foot 40 disposed to be engaged by a canrolling over the way. Extending undereneath the pot 34 is a cross bar41, in which the stem of the plunger is slidably mounted. Secured to thecross bar and engaging the stem are leaf springs 42 similar to the leafsprings 30 for stem 24. Disposed above the leaf springs and embracingthe stem of the plunger is a depression member 43 having a foot 44disposed to be engaged by a can as it rolls along the way. The pot isfilled with paste. A can as it rolls over compression foot 44 will causethe stem of the plunger to be released and spring 37 will push itupwardly into engagement with the can, thereby applying paste thereto.As the can continues to roll down the way it engages foot 40, therebydepressing the plunger in the paste pot, its position being shown inFig. 5

The can continues to roll downwardly along the way and over the labelholder E.

foot 53 disposed in the path of the cans so that on engagement therewiththe stem will be released and the table 45 with a stack of labels 54moved upwardly.

Bridging the way is a standard 55 carrying a brush 56 which will engagethe labels and smooth the latter. A surface of sponge rubber 57 levelwith the ways so that the can will roll on the rubber smooths andpresses the label against. the can.

As a can rolls down the way, it will come in contact with a portion ofthe surface of roll 13 accumulating a line of paste. As it moves along,it'revolves an arm of the impeller 21, thereby positively turning bothrollers 9 and 13 and-bringing to the top surfaces which have beensubmerged in the paste. After rolling over roller 9, where the canaccumulates another line of paste, the can engages the depression foot32. The action upon the foot is momentary and the stem 24 of the labelholderis released permittin r the spring 27 to move the table 23 upwarcly. a very slight amount and with it the stack of labels. Thecanrollsover the label on the top of the stack picking up the latter on thepaster lines. After leaving the label holder, it engages depression foot44 thereby releasing the plunger 35 which is moved upwardly withfreshpaste. The can rolls over the plunger accumulating paste thereon for theauxiliarylabel and finally reaches foot 40 which is depressed.Depression of foot 40 causes the plunger to be retracted into thepasteba-th in position ready for operation upon the next can. The canthen continues on in its travel until it reaches depression foot 53 andthe stack auxiliary labels 54 are kicked upwardly. The can rolls overthe stack of auxiliary labels, the paste applied by plunger 35registering with the label stack and picking up the top label. The canthen continues its movement and rolls over therubber 57 and under thebrush 56 which "presses and smooths the label. Any succeeding operationdesirablemay thenbe carried out.

What I claim is:

A labeling machine for cylindricalrcontainers comprising an inclinedway, a paste reservoir, spaced rollers in said reservoir with theirsurfaces tangential to said way, an impeller having arms disposed in thepath of travel of said containers so that movement of the containerswill rotate said impeller said impeller being geared to said rollers soas to rotate the latter and carry paste to the surface of the container,a label holder disposed so that said containers Will roll over and incontact With the top of a stack of labels therein, and pick up labels,

and means on said holder to advance said stack, said means beingactuated by the travel of said container.

In witness that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto subscribed my namethis 16th day of August, 1920.

ANTONIO LAFATA.

